A federal judge in Manhattan dismissed three sexual abuse lawsuits brought against former Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash on Monday, saying the men had exceeded a six-year statute of limitations in filing their complaints.

Judge John Koeltl threw out the suits brought by Cecil Singleton, Kevin Kiadii and a third, unnamed accuser. Clash, 52, resigned in November after 28 years portraying the beloved character on “Sesame Street,” amid allegations he'd engaged in sexual relationships with underage boys.

"The complaints in these cases were filed more than six years after the defendant's conduct with each plaintiff ended," Koeltl wrote in his decision.

“While the plaintiffs may not have recognized the extent of their injuries, they were aware of the defendant's conduct towards them and could have brought claims,” he wrote.

The dismissal of the suits is the latest wrinkle in an ongoing saga that began last June, when Singleton contacted Sesame Workshop, claiming that Clash had pursued a sexual relationship with him when he was just 16.

The company conducted a “thorough investigation” into the matter and found his claims regarding underage sexual contact to be “unsubstantiated,” but placed Clash on leave from the show.

A day after Singleton’s allegations first came to light in November, he recanted, saying his sexual relationship with Clash only began after he’d turned 18, only to claim the following day he was pressured into retracting the charges.

In June, Clash won three Daytime Emmys for his work on "Sesame Street."

Kevin Clash resigned from his high-profile puppeteering gig on "Sesame Street" in November 2012 amid allegations of having sexual relations with multiple underage boys. But despite the scandal, Clash's work as the man behind Elmo helped get him four Daytime Emmy nominations.

HARRISBURG — The State Supreme Court has rejected Attorney General Kathleen Kane's attempt to throw out a grand jury investigation into whether she or someone in her office leaked investigative secrets to a newspaper to discredit critics.

Catasauqua police officer Scott M. Rothrock had already been stabbed once in the chest with a 13-inch butcher knife and was trying to block more thrusts as he lay on his back in a snow bank in east Allentown last month.